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Rome’s great intellectual achievements laid in organizing the Empire, but Greece’s had laid in mathematical and philosophical breakthroughs.

(A) laid in organizing the Empire, but Greece’s had laid (B) laid in the organization of the Empire, but Greece’s had lain (C) laid in organizing the Empire, whereas Greece’s had lain (D) lay in organizing the Empire, whereas Greece’s had lain (E) lay in the organization of the Empire, whereas Greece’s had laid

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22 Apr 2015, 11:28

mikemcgarry wrote:

Rome’s great intellectual achievements laid in organizing the Empire, but Greece’s had laid in mathematical and philosophical breakthroughs. (A) laid in organizing the Empire, but Greece’s had laid (B) laid in the organization of the Empire, but Greece’s had lain (C) laid in organizing the Empire, whereas Greece’s had lain (D) lay in organizing the Empire, whereas Greece’s had lain (E) lay in the organization of the Empire, whereas Greece’s had laid

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22 Apr 2015, 12:25

1

ssriva2 wrote:

mikemcgarry wrote:

Rome’s great intellectual achievements laid in organizing the Empire, but Greece’s had laid in mathematical and philosophical breakthroughs. (A) laid in organizing the Empire, but Greece’s had laid (B) laid in the organization of the Empire, but Greece’s had lain (C) laid in organizing the Empire, whereas Greece’s had lain (D) lay in organizing the Empire, whereas Greece’s had lain (E) lay in the organization of the Empire, whereas Greece’s had laid

Hi mikemcgarry,I have confusion in split between "organization of " and "organizing"(NOUN Vs ACTION).Can you please help

Dear ssriva2,I'm happy to help.

See this blog: http://magoosh.com/gmat/2013/active-verbs-on-the-gmat/When an action is concerned, the GMAT always prefers a verb over a noun, precisely because this is the preference in the business world. Think about advertising. No ad would say:We will help you in the organization of all the clutter in your life. Yawn! Wordy, flaccid, and boring! Instead, an advertiser would sayWe will organize all the clutter in your life!That version is shorter and much more powerful. It's powerful in part because the principle action appears as a verb rather than as a noun. That's the substance of the split between (D) & (E) in this question. We are talking about the great achievement of the Roman Empire: in other words, the biggest thing that the Roman Empire ever did! We are taking about a huge action, so the most powerful way to discuss this action is to use a verb. Using the noun makes the sentence awkward and less direct and less powerful.

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But want to know the subtle difference between laid and lain. Laid can take the direct object, but lain cannot take direct object. Am I right in assuming so.

mikemcgarry wrote:

Rome’s great intellectual achievements laid in organizing the Empire, but Greece’s had laid in mathematical and philosophical breakthroughs. (A) laid in organizing the Empire, but Greece’s had laid (B) laid in the organization of the Empire, but Greece’s had lain (C) laid in organizing the Empire, whereas Greece’s had lain (D) lay in organizing the Empire, whereas Greece’s had lain (E) lay in the organization of the Empire, whereas Greece’s had laid

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23 Apr 2015, 01:20

mikemcgarry wrote:

ssriva2 wrote:

mikemcgarry wrote:

Rome’s great intellectual achievements laid in organizing the Empire, but Greece’s had laid in mathematical and philosophical breakthroughs. (A) laid in organizing the Empire, but Greece’s had laid (B) laid in the organization of the Empire, but Greece’s had lain (C) laid in organizing the Empire, whereas Greece’s had lain (D) lay in organizing the Empire, whereas Greece’s had lain (E) lay in the organization of the Empire, whereas Greece’s had laid

Hi mikemcgarry,I have confusion in split between "organization of " and "organizing"(NOUN Vs ACTION).Can you please help

Dear ssriva2,I'm happy to help.

See this blog: http://magoosh.com/gmat/2013/active-verbs-on-the-gmat/When an action is concerned, the GMAT always prefers a verb over a noun, precisely because this is the preference in the business world. Think about advertising. No ad would say:We will help you in the organization of all the clutter in your life. Yawn! Wordy, flaccid, and boring! Instead, an advertiser would sayWe will organize all the clutter in your life!That version is shorter and much more powerful. It's powerful in part because the principle action appears as a verb rather than as a noun. That's the substance of the split between (D) & (E) in this question. We are talking about the great achievement of the Roman Empire: in other words, the biggest thing that the Roman Empire ever did! We are taking about a huge action, so the most powerful way to discuss this action is to use a verb. Using the noun makes the sentence awkward and less direct and less powerful.

Does all this make sense?Mike

Hi mikemcgarry,Your explanation is perfect.Still I have a doubt ."Organize" is definitely verb but "organizing " is an action.Please help me to understand.

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13 Sep 2018, 05:14

Official Explanation

The verb "to lay" means "to put or place." The verb "to lie" means "to recline" or, metaphorically, "to be located." This latter metaphorical use is what we want: at both the beginning and the end of the underlined section, we want forms of the verb "to lie." The past tense of "lie" is "lay" and the past participle is "lain." Thus,

Today, X lies in Q

In the past, X lay in Q.

Over time, X has lain in Q.

Thus, for the first verb, we want to say that Rome's achievements "lay" in one area, past tense, and for the second, Greece's "had lain" in another area, past perfect tense. The only answer choice that gets both of these correct is (D).
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